JazzFest brings a touch of Brazil to Takoma Park

Headliner adds new sounds to annual Old Town event

Jeff Chiaverini of Hanover, Pa., a member of the band The Junkyard Saints, warms up on the trombone in the shade before taking the stage for this year's Takoma Park JazzFest, held Sunday on Carroll Avenue in Old Town Takoma Park.

Pedestrians strolled all up and down Carroll Avenue in Old Town on Sunday afternoon, shopping for crafts while a group of free spirits set up a "hug zone" at Laurel Avenue, embracing passers-by as the smooth lilt of live jazz music floated through the air at the 2009 Takoma Park JazzFest.

A combination of the sunny, accommodating weather and a series of eclectic, upbeat performances helped to make this year's festival a success. Featuring sets from both local musicians as well as a number of visitors exhibiting distinctly Latin and Brazilian sounds, the festival drew an impressive crowd, according to program organizer Bruce Krohmer.

"It's a nice day, people are in good spirits and everything," he said with a smile, surveying a group of dancers by the main stage at Carroll and Willow avenues. "Jazz is kind of America's only original art form, and it's been marginalized by the pop music industry, so you got to keep giving it out."

Even the festival's Brazilian performers, including Grammy award-winning singer Maucha Adnet, praised the fine weather at the event.

"I always love to play outdoors, especially when it's sunny and such a bright day," she said after delighting the crowd at the Willow Stage during her headline performance. "Any place where people are loving and respecting the music is a pleasure to play, and I got that feeling here right away."

Singing alongside local drummer and vibraphonist Chuck Redd, Adnet and fellow Brazilian, drummer Duduka Da Fonseca, provided much of the contrast in musical styles at this year's festival, performing songs with lyrics in both English and Portuguese against an exotic background of beats ranging from slow and smooth to fast-paced and jaunty.

Baltimore native Trevor Specht is a frequent visitor to Takoma Park, where his band, the Junkyard Saints, is popular mainstay in city festivals. He credited this year's festival lineup as a major draw.

"I thought it was a good variety, rather than just having straight-ahead jazz, it's good to have some Latin kind of jazz and some bluesy music in there, too," he said after his group's set at the Gazebo Stage by Westmoreland Avenue. "We had a good set and a lot of people came out."

Longtime jazz fan Gloria Huddleston came all the way out to the festival from Columbia, saying she had considered braving the traffic and congestion to visit downtown Washington, D.C., but saw an advertisement for the JazzFest and quickly changed her mind.

"The beat here has already got me rocking!" she said with a laugh. "I was raised on jazz, so I've heard all of the great musicians. … But this is more contemporary jazz, I think it's more upbeat because it has more of a pop music influence and an emphasis on the lyrics. It's a good vibe, a very good vibe."

Sitting in the shade under the line of trees surrounding the Gazebo Stage, Washington, D.C., resident Scott Reed enjoyed the melodic styling of the locally-based Nasar Abadey Quintet, remembering his first exposure to jazz as a child.

"It was a long time ago, when I was about 13 years old, and I've just stuck with it ever since," he said. "Jazz doesn't change, really, I mean, different groups sound differently, but it's all really pretty much the same style of music."